By performing primary research with oncologists, pathologists, and cancer patients Essential discovered opportunities to close communication gaps in the interpretation of genomic sequencing data. With explicit needs identified, we designed a web portal and print report that makes diagnosis and selection of personalized cancer treatment options understandable.

Transforming Healthcare delivery.
iRobot and InTouch Health partnered to create a revolutionary new telepresence robot that extends the reach of physicians and nurses everywhere. Essential gave the RP-VITA its human touch through the integrated design of a remote control app, onboard interface and industrial design that puts patient/caregiver connection first.

A simple platform that works globally
To develop its most advanced, flagship auto transfusion device, Haemonetics turned to Essential. Through stakeholder research on three continents, we identified workflow requirements and feature priorities to design a safer, more effective and more versatile solution to users’s needs.

Sleep solutions and respiratory care
Over 5 years and 20 projects, Essential has helped Philips Healthcare create a better home therapy experience for sleep apnea patients. Because patients use these medical devices in their homes every night, Essential works in concert with Philips to create advanced systems that emphasize simplified interfaces.

Better coaching, better outcomes
WellDoc’s physician founders saw the need for diabetes monitoring and better ways to educate and support patients outside the clinical setting. Essential’s research with physicians and patients led to new web and mobile tools that support and coach patients to improved outcomes. This work also provided a platform to manage other chronic diseases. DiabetesManager resulted in the first FDA-approved mobile health solution for diabetes patients.

Make every action count
MeYou Health’s mission is ambitious: to help people leverage social networks to live healthier lives. Essential’s research into what motivates long-term behavior change led to design principles that affected content development in the Daily Challenge and other MeYou Health apps, which engage friends to motivated and share success everyday.

Healthcare
Technology is pointing the way to new possibilities in healthcare diagnosis and treatment. Design is revolutionizing the way healthcare is delivered. By focusing on the real needs of real people- physicians and nurses, technicians, home care providers and patients – we design devices and experiences that make a true impact on people’s health and well-being.

AARP wanted to reach beyond its traditional demographic and capture the minds and sensibilities of a younger generation. Although this generation is in prime position to build a secure future for itself, it is in many cases also saddled by debt. AARP looked to Essential to understand the types of financial products and services that young people need to increase their overall financial health.

Working with AARP and service design partner, Peer Insight, Essential designed an approach to identify the different contexts, factors, thoughts, emotions and goals in peoples’ minds, using one-on-one, hands-on interview sessions. We used the resulting visual maps to reveal patterns that characterize different situations and attitudes towards finances. And we transformed these patterns into a service concept with a range of options for implementation that would help users take stock of their situations, craft a plan with the help of others, and act on their plan using AARP’s financial products.

Essential’s co-creation research approach provided insight into long-term visions, and reflex-based reactions, and encouraged participants to synthesize these elements into a cohesive, personalized view of a financial product that would help them address their goals. Our rigorous analysis and resulting recommendations enabled AARP to proceed in creating an assessment, planning, and product-offering service with the confidence that it would be well-received, maximizing their positive impact on helping this generation take control of its financial future.

Legrand Adorne Collection
Getting every detail right
While other home fixtures have evolved in quality, sophistication and price-point, outlets and switches have stayed stuck in the past. Essential’s design for Legrand Adorne changes that with a system of switches, outlets, and under-cabinet lighting that offers elegant, clean lines, and many design options in a simple DIY system.

Essential conducted discovery research designed to inform the strategic planning process. We worked with Altec Lansing to apply our structured insights to the envisioning and creation of a use-driven product strategy. That strategy outlined the role and function of products, the features and context of product use, and the character of the product form language.

Making the Altec Lansing business strategy visual and tangible resulted in clearly communicated use scenarios, visualized product roadmaps and focused product descriptions. By framing information in these ways we expedited buy-in from Altec Lansing management, marketing, engineering and internal design teams.

Navigating the Global Market
To further drive sales in growing international markets iRobot wanted to create a new design that delivered a level of visual sophistication to elevate the perceived quality of the product and more closely match consumer expectations for a contemporary appliance. The new Roomba 700 series became the best selling vacuum cleaner in its price range in Japan. The success is attributable to the new design language.

The ever-changing dynamics of consumer markets, categories and channels requires focus and agility to deliver products and services that people truly desire. We dive deep and move quickly to design and engineer innovative solutions that captivate consumers and drive meaningful business performance.

Create your sound
As professional audio stalwart Lexicon entered the growing home studio market, their challenge was creating desktop recording products that elevated the brand and connected with consumers. Essential designed and engineered the product family with a pro-audio aesthetic including die cast metal components and a simple interface that eclipses its many competitors.

Ventsure ridge vent
Getting it right the first time
While Owens Corning is a leader in many categories, ridge vents was new. To help Owens Corning confidently create a unique, best-in-class product, Essential’s research with contractors and installers identified “instability” as their most important need. Our design introduced innovations that helped installers improve quality, efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Powering the most demanding performances
Sure Axient is the world’s largest most sophisticated wireless microphone system, created to manage complex RF spectrum for the most high profile live performances. The latest partnership in a 10-year working relationship, Essential developed a sophisticated platform of 10 products that balances bulletproof reliability, introduces rechargeable power and features a sleek, stage ready appearance.

Dell Partnership
Road tested
Through a 10-year working relationship that touches virtually every part of Dell’s product portfolio and balances the strategic and tactical, the Dell and Essential relationship demonstrates the value of a long-term partnership to achieve vision, inspiration and implementation support with equal success.

Professional
When approaching commercial products, practical business issues usually come to the forefront. But we never forget that business decisions- and commercial products- are all about people. We approach innovation in commercial products and services by focusing on what’s important to people.

We are researchers, designers and engineers who inform
and translate strategy to create breakthrough physical
products, digital products and service experiences.

Expertise

Physical Products

We design products that are expertly positioned, technically differentiated, robustly engineered, easy to use and desirable. We give form to user experiences through products that deliver on brand messages and on brand values, hitting performance and cost requirements necessary for success.

Digital Products

Because more aspects of work and everyday life are mediated by technology, we embrace an ever-closer connection between the physical and digital. We take a platform-agnostic approach to designing digital products including hardware, software, embedded interfaces, mobile displays, apps and web-delivered experiences.

Service Design

Services are a collection of experiences that may be delivered to users through physical interaction with a product, in person, through digital media – or some combination. We design and connect customer interactions and touchpoints to make sure they work together to deliver the best service to customers.

For the fourth consecutive year Essential is hosting an intern from Youth Design, a summer mentorship program that introduces inner-city youth to careers in the design profession. Edbert Wang and Katherine Belk are co-mentoring Dashaun Johnson, a rising senior at Brighton High School, providing him with hands on learning experience in all touch points of the design process.

Jeff Mekler Mentors MIT Students

Throughout the spring semester, Jeff Mekler has taught and mentored freshmen MIT students in the Toy Product Design course. The course introduces the product design process by dividing the students into teams to build and prototype products with a focus on designing for play and entertainment. Jeff helped a team develop their toy by providing his expertise and best practices in engineering and product design.

Paul Naddaff at MIT Hacking Medicine

Paul Naddaff joined innovators from a range of disciplines to tackle real healthcare challenges through brainstorming & rapid prototyping at MIT’s Hacking Medicine. Paul’s team, composed of business strategists, a clinician, and software developers, secured a software partner with a unique offering- a wearable patch that collects patient vitals. Over 48 hours, his team backed the patch with a new near-field communication chip, creating a versatile field health monitor suitable for use in developing countries.

IDSA Northeast District Conference

IDSA’s 2015 Northeast Conference, Design + ______, brought together professionals, educators and students to discuss the collaborative nature of work as an industrial designer outside the classroom. Justin Cummings gave students professional advice as part of a portfolio review that kicked off the conference. At the end of the first day, Essential hosted an open studio where conference attendees were able to tour our space and speak with members of our multi-disciplinary team.

Justin Cumming at Cleveland Institute of Art

The Cleveland Institute of Art’s Invent your Future conference brought together alumni to share professional insight and expose students to the diverse range of career path opportunities available. Senior Designer, Justin Cumming, presented on translating trends; covering the resources, tools and techniques required to build visual stories and inform visions of the future.

Designing for Emerging Technologies

Essential’s Scott Stropkay and Bill Hartman co-wrote a chapter in the book, Designing for Emerging Technologies: UX for Genomics, Robotics, and the Internet of Things, on the growing influence and capabilities of robots in our work and personal lives. Read more here.

Richard Watson Speaks at Harvard xDesign

The 2014 Harvard xDesign Conference was centered around the theme of unpacking the design process behind human-centered products. Richard Watson and iRobot’s Derek Verhoon presented the Roomba case study, sharing the complexities of designing a product that meets optimally at the intersection of three touchpoints; end-user needs, market factors and technological possibilities.

iRobot & Essential Win Spark Award

iRobot and Essential won a Spark Health Award for RP Vita, a Virtual Independent Telemedicine Assistant. RP Vita is your doctor in the hospital room with you – even when that doctor is actually cities or countries away. Using state-of-the-art tele-presence and navigation technologies, RP-VITA provides face to face patient care in an effective, safe, and calming way. See video.

Scott Stropkay at Medical Design Conference

The IDSA Medical Design Conference brought together product development and healthcare specialists to share case studies and insights on the role of usability in driving medical device design innovation. Essential’s Scott Stropkay presented on the integration of robotic systems in healthcare, highlighting the user experience and ethical challenges of the design and development process.

Kurt Maw Mentors at NU Enabling Engineering

Enabling Engineering is a student run group at Northeastern University with a mission to build impactful, low-cost devices for the elderly and other individuals with physical or cognitive disabilities. Over the course of the school year, Principal Engineer, Kurt Maw, will serve as a professional design mentor to students working to develop a sleep tracking device to monitor patients in hospitals and long term care facilities.

Sonya Mead, Director of the Digital Experiences team, presented at this month’s Design Museum Mornings on the changing state of user experience design. Sonya used the history of the automobile dashboard as an example of how new platforms, form factors, and services are constantly transforming the interactions between people and products.

Scott Stropkay at Q1 Productions Conference

Scott Stropkay spoke in Chicago at the Medical Device Product Development and Management Conference on, “Exploring the Future Direction of Medical Device Product Development”. Scott described the technology, regulatory and payment trends, as well as the usability expectations that are driving Essential’s work for clients in various segments of the healthcare market; challenging attendees to map opportunities against diverse and detailed criteria to create more relevant and powerful design solutions.

Richard Watson Speaks at DMB Conference

The Design Museum Boston has been exhibiting products and services that drove business through smart design in the Design Center throughout the summer. As an extension of the exhibit, thought-leaders gathered at the Better Business Conference to discuss the value design has added to industries across Massachusetts. Richard Watson presented a case study of Essential’s work on the Roomba, providing insight to the impact of design on iRobot’s business.

Essential Presents on UX Design

Dave Siedzik and Margaret Jacobi from the Digital Experience team spoke at the General Assembly event, A Day in the Life of a UX Designer at Essential. They discussed the career paths that led them to their current positions and shed light on the diverse work they do to create digital user experiences in consumer, industrial, and medical industries.

Youth Design Intern at Essential

Daniel Smelansky, a rising senior at Boston Latin Academy, has been interning with Essential this summer through Youth Design. As a part of the Youth Design program, Daniel has been participating in professional development workshops with other students in addition to his design internship. Members of the Essential team joined Daniel at Youth Design for an interactive workshop where the students brainstormed creative solutions to real employment issues youth face in Boston.

Naz Mirzaie Facilitates at College ThinkTank

The 3rd College ThinkTank Boston, which took place at Mass Challenge, focused on ways to better connect communities and the start-up culture in neighborhoods of Boston. Design Researcher, Naz Mirzaie, facilitated the brainstorming process, working with a group of students to guide the generation of creative solutions for these local challenges.

Creative Industries Summit

The Creative Industries Summit, held at Mass Art, united leaders across the Commonwealth to interact and brainstorm ways of boosting collaboration across creative industries. Richard Watson co-presented with Michael Hendrix from IDEO, speaking on the benefits of using a human-centric approach to design. Governor Deval Patrick closed out the afternoon with remarks on the statewide initiatives to support and grow the creative economy.

Essential Mentors Wentworth Students

Students from the Wentworth Accelerate program, the Social Innovation Lab, are working this summer to rethink the visitor experience at the Franklin Park Zoo. Danielle Perretty and Dave Siedzik, along with other members of the Boston design community, are mentoring students in the process of exploring educational and engagement opportunities that could enhance the zoo services. See BostInno article for more information.

CIA & Essential’s Student Summer Show

Every summer the Cleveland Institute of Art showcases the very best of CIA’s student work in the Reinberger Galleries. This year, Essential is sponsoring the Student Summer Show that will be up until August 15th. We have CIA alumni in the office and are excited to show our commitment to supporting one of the nation’s leading art and design colleges.

Women in Design

Margaret Jacobi and Sonya Mead joined other female leaders in design to speak about the career challenges they overcame as women working in design on a panel hosted by the General Assembly and Wonder Women of Boston. The female panelists shared personal stories of professional experiences when they were questioned or pushed and the valuable insights gained from those experiences. https://generalassemb.ly/education/women-in-design

Essential & Shure IDEA Finalists

Essential and Shure were recognized as finalists of IDSA’s International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) for the SE846 sound isolating earphones. The SE846 earphones deliver a listening experience with exceptional range and clarity. Essential’s design and conceptual engineering work built on Shure’s foundation series earphones with a removable cable and a fit that encourages a perfect acoustic seal in most ears.

Scott Stropkay Speaks at SXSW

The empowered patient is increasingly aware that they are to assume a greater role in healthcare but they need the tools, strategies, and support to assist them in becoming informed and engaged medical consumers who make a positive impact on the quality of their healthcare. Scott Stropkay and Andy Palmer are presenting at SXSW to discuss how delivery methods for ideas and technologies shape the design of products and services in the healthcare space.

Gregg Draudt Lectures at Brown University

Gregg Draudt will be presenting for Brown University’s PRIME Program. PRIME is focused on teaching innovation management and entrepreneurship. Students learn to use emerging science and technology as a basis for economic strategies, business culture and entrepreneurship.

Book Review for DMI’s Journal

Dave Siedzik, Director of Digital Experiences, published a book review in DMI’s quarterly journal, the Design Management Review. In his article, Dave accessed the content of Raymond Turner’s book, Design Leadership: Securing the Strategic Value of Design. Dave argues that Turner’s insight in Design Leadership is “inspiring and grounding,” providing organizational leaders with an effective guide through the entire process of design by using real-world case studies from Turner’s extensive experience.

RP VITA: Medical Design Excellence Finalist

Essential’s work on RP VITA, the remote presence robot developed by iRobot and InTouch Health, was recognized as a finalist for the Medical Design Excellence Awards. RP-VITA is your doctor in the hospital room with you even when that doctor is cities or countries away. Using state-of-the-art telepresence and navigation technologies, RP-VITA provides face to face patient care in an effective and calming way.

Advances in Human-Robotic Interaction

Scott Stropkay is a featured panelist for the Medical Development Group’s February Forum. The panel of experts are in the fields of surgical procedures, design, development, and robot manufacturing. They will share why and how robots are becoming crucial in all aspects of healthcare, what advances and improvements are predicted for robotic healthcare and some of the key challenges that remain in bringing more of these devices to the delivery of medical care.

Don Norman & DMB at Essential

We hosted Design Museum Boston’s Fall Field Trip in our studio where attendees were given a behind-the-scenes tour, lunch and lively conversation with Richard Watson and the author of The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman. Don is a thought leader in the fields of cognitive science, design, and usability. He launched a revised and expanded edition of The Design of Everyday Things which each attendee received and had signed by Don. See event photos.

Hottest MedTech Innovations of 2013

ASME named RP-VITA a Top 5 Medtech Innovation for 2013.The RP-VITA Remote Presence Robot produced jointly by iRobot, InTouch Health and Essential is the first such autonomous navigation remote-presence robot to receive FDA clearance for hospital use. Watch the video animation that shows how RP-VITA assists clinicians and families in making decisions that directly impact hospital-based patient care.

CIA Interviews Scott Stropkay

An interview with Scott Stropkay was published in the 2012-2013 Annual Report for the Cleveland Institute of Art. During the interview, Scott recognizes the significant impact that his studies in Industrial Design at the CIA had on his creative career, providing him with a foundation of knowledge he continues to use today in his work at Essential. With multiple alumni in the office, Essential highly values the CIA education and we are committed to supporting the institution.

College ThinkTank Boston

The City of Boston and Wentworth’s Innovation + Entrepreneurship Center, co-founded College ThinkTank Boston. With over 100 students from 19 colleges, there was a wide range of academic majors, design thinkers, city representatives and community partners in attendance. Danielle Perretty and Justin Cumming were asked to lead as facilitators for the brainstorm session which was represented around the challenge of “Funding Channels for Small Businesses”. See event video.

Essential Mentors at the MIT D-Lab

Scott Stropkay and Paul Nadaff presented to students at the MIT D-Lab.The D-Lab is an undergraduate program that explores how to develop products for the developing world. Development through Dialogue, Design & Dissemination. Scott and Paul discussed the role of design research, product development and how it could be leveraged within the context of developing countries. See blog post here.

Solving Problems With Design Thinking

The start-up, MeYou Health and Essential are featured in 1 of the 10 stories of what works in <a href=”http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-16356-9/solving-problems-with-design-thinking”><i>Solving Problems With Design Thinking.</i></a> This story focuses on helping large employers and insurers reduce employees’ health care costs by creating a business model based on the notion that social networks can improve well-being and help people help themselves.

Bill Speaks at Medicine X Stanford

Bill Hartman spoke about the “Personas of Well-being” at the Stanford Medicine X Conference. During his presentation, Bill discussed how to design for sustainable and healthy behavior change. In particular, Bill demonstrated how formative end-user research helped identify social network-related motivations for personal healthcare, how the findings were translated into a gamified, product development strategy for a digital product and what challenges the team encountered during the process.

Legrand NA & Essential Win IDEA Award

Legrand North America and Essential won an International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) for the adorne collection: a line of residential light switches, dimmers, electrical outlets and design-driven wall plates. Targeted to both new construction and retrofit applications, the modular line is designed to fit existing electrical boxes, making it fast and simple to install or change a switch or outlet. See video.

Scott Stropkay Speaks at SXSW

Inspired by ideas and innovations emerging from research, clinical innovation centers, tech start-ups and service development projects, Scott Stropkay and Frank Moss discussed ways on how we use design and new technologies to bridge the gaps between the research and the delivery of innovative healthcare ideas to the market. They challenged start-ups to bring in new business models that both redefine and reinvigorate the future of healthcare. Watch genConnect interview from SXSW.

Zarla Ludin Leads a UXPA Workshop

Senior Researcher, Zarla Ludin, conducted a workshop for a group of user experience professionals on the topic of reporting research findings. Often tasked with doing “right” research, she emphasized tactics to conduct research in a way that is credible, as opposed to “right.” Attendees did their own ethnographic research project and participated in interactive workshop-style activities to create relationships with the data, and discuss meaningful research outcomes.

Dave Siedzik Mentors at the Media Lab

Dave Siedzik participated in MIT Media Lab’s Health and Wellness Hackathon as a User Experience mentor for the 6 selected project teams competing for the big win. Teams were comprised of professors, doctors, students and corporate professionals who came together to focus on producing commercially viable products for the healthcare industry. They were required to use a common platform for open source innovation and to encourage collaboration.

Shure & Essential Win iF Design Award

The Shure Axient wireless management system won an iF product design award within the professional audio equipment category. Axient is the world’s most sophisticated wireless microphone system, created to manage complex RF spectrum for the most high profile live performances. The platform of interrelated tools are used for the planning, setup and direction of wireless events. Top innovation for top events, from the Olympics to the Super Bowl.

Richard Watson Speaks at CES

Digital technology is transforming the healthcare experience in many ways: an app that converts the iPhone into a cardiac event recorder, smart shirts that monitor heart activity and connected prescription bottle caps that text when it’s time for a refill. Richard Watson was a panelist for CES’s Digital Health discussion on leading-edge products and retail opportunities in health and fitness monitoring.

Bill Hartman Mentors Babson MBAs

For the fifth year, Essential mentored MBA students at Babson College participating in the Product Design and Development course. The course takes teams through product development from user research and workflow analysis to idea generation, concepts, and prototyping. As students worked through a design challenge to develop an assistive reading device for low vision, Bill provided his expertise and best practices for design research and exploration.

Scott Stropkay Speaks at CEA

A recent influx of applications and personal devices is increasingly enabling consumers to track and manage their own health. At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Association’s Industry Forum, Scott Stropkay will be moderating a panel, alongside industry experts from GigaOM, AT&T, HealthSpot and Best Buy, on the topic of “DIY Healthcare”. The group will discuss the impact of this shift, as well as identify opportunities for organizations to make an impact in the healthcare space.

Bill Hartman Speaks at Medicine X

Bill Hartman spoke about the “Personas of Well-being” at the Stanford Medicine X Conference. During his presentation, Bill discussed how to design for sustainable and healthy behavior change. In particular, Bill demonstrated how formative end-user research helped identify social network-related motivations for personal healthcare, how the findings were translated into a gamified, product development strategy for a digital product and what challenges the team encountered during the process.

Scott Stropkay Speaks at Medicine X

The Stanford Medicine X Conference is a catalyst for new ideas about the future of medicine and healthcare and Scott Stropkay was invited to lead a workshop at this year’s event. During his session, Scott discussed “Opportunity Mapping at the Intersection of Health, Technology and Design”. Participants learned how to imagine ideal futures, medical outcomes + ways to access them using design thinking processes.

John Devlin Returns to MIT

John Devlin was asked to teach MIT students participating in the Product Engineering Processes course. Designed to introduce undergraduates to the product development processes, this course spans phases from early research and concept generation, to testing of alpha prototypes. As students work through the various phases of the engineering process, John will be providing his industry expertise to help guide them through their projects.

Design Thinking Workshop for the Swiss

Bill Hartman led a workshop for MBA students from the School of Business Administration in Fribourg, Switzerland. Students were introduced to design thinking methodologies and were given a business case in which the goal was to improve the outcome of a fitness program, bolster satisfaction among members and increase revenue. Teams presented their ideas and discussed implementing design thinking methods to help make smarter business decisions, be a creative leader, and to be more innovative.

Bill Hartman on Designing UX at Bentley

Bill Hartman will be teaching a course on “Designing the User Experience” as part of Bentley’s User Experience Certificate program. Designed to help build a solid foundation in human factors, usability engineering and project management, the certificate helps participants increase the usability and performance of their product designs while reducing development costs. Bill’s course will explore the integration of user requirements into design solutions through interactive, team-based projects.

Scott Stropkay Speaks at IDSA

The IDSA International Conference was held in Boston this past August and attracted more than 750 designers, educators and students. Scott Stropkay, alongside Sean Hagen, Alex Therrien, and Tor Alden, spoke on a medical device design panel led by Mary Beth Privitera. The group discussed the role of industrial design as the bridge between clinical, marketing, human factors, engineering and regulatory standards, as well as challenges and opportunities for design in medical device development.

Shure & Essential Win Silver IDEA Award

Shure Axient Wireless Management System won a Silver International Design Excellence Award in the Commercial and Industrial Products category. Shure asked Essential to partner with them to help develop a suite of products that would work seamlessly with the Wireless Axient System. We collaborated to design and engineer a suite of over 10 unique products for this competitive segment. Shure Axient Wireless Management System is an innovative platform of tools for top touring acts around the world.

iRobot & Essential Win Finalist IDEA Award

The iRobot Roomba 700 Series vacuum cleaning robots won an International Design Excellence Finalist Award. Essential developed the sophisticated design language and simplified ux that connects with buyers and feels at home anywhere in the world. Essential’s redesign features a changeable center panel and a prominent clean button. Roomba has since become the top selling vacuum among conventional and robotic products in Japan.

IDSA’s Innovation Book Review Series

Scott Stropkay’s book review of James Adams’ “Good Products, Bad Products: Essential Elements to Achieving Superior Quality” was published in the summer edition of Innovation, the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) quarterly journal. In his review, Scott discusses the challenges associated with basing business decisions on feelings rather than solid, quantifiable data. Adams points out that smart teams should be able to feel product success before they can count it.

iRobot & Essential Win Excellence in Design

iRobot and Essential won a Gold Award for the Excellence in Design Award for the Roomba 700 Series. iRobot and Essential developed a product design language across three-product portfolios enabling differentiation and varying price points. The design language helped to improve the ux and appeals to the needs of regional markets across the globe. Since launching, the 700 series has become the bestselling vacuum cleaner in Japan.

Embracing Complexity for the DMI Review

Scott Stropkay and David Siedzik published an article in the Design Management Review, the DMI’s quarterly journal. In their piece, Embracing Complexity: a Framework for Healthcare Design, Stropkay and Siedzik explore the importance of embracing rather than minimizing complexity as a means to create sophisticated design solutions. The article provides ways for designers to leverage good complexity, illustrating the value through case studies and a framework for intricate systems within the healthcare system.

Essential Speaks at SXSW

Richard Watson spoke on, “The Future of Innovation and Consumer Electronics”, alongside President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, Gary Shapiro at South by South West. Scott Stropkay was also able to add his perspective to the design discussion during his panel, “A New Culture of Learning: Gaming, Tech, Design”. Scott explored how these cutting-edge technologies will change the way we, as a society approach learning.

Altec & Essential Win Spark Award

Altec Lansing InAir 5000 Wireless AirPlay Speakerwon a Spark Award in the Audio Component category. The InAir 5000 Speaker allows users to wirelessly stream music from their ITunes and iOS devices, using AirPlay. Designed to enhance the audio experience, the InAir 5000 omits sound out at a multitude of angles providing improved sound quality compared to traditional speaker systems.

Philips & Essential Win Good Design Award

Philips Design and Essential won a Good Design Award in the medical category for the TrueBlue Gel Nasal CPAP Mask. TrueBlue is a minimal contact nasal mask for those with obstructive sleep apnea. The mask with Auto Seal technology is designed to deliver a higher degree of comfort, stability, and freedom of movement with minimal adjustments.

Shure & Essential Win Good Design Award

Essential and Shure won a Good Design Award in the electronics category for the Shure SE535 Isolating Earphones. Shure asked Essential to develop a 4-product earphone platform that would be considered the best sounding, best fitting, least noticeable, and most durable universal fit in-ear monitors on the market. The SE535 is the flagship in the new line.

Newell Rubbermaid & Essential Win Good Design Award

The Paper Mate Liquid Paper DryLine Ultra correction tape won a Good Design Award in the office products category. Essential designed a globally-adoptable product, optimized for the needs of diverse target consumer segments. The result was a correction tape which is comfortable to hold for both right and left-handed users, featuring a refillable dispenser and a tip cover to prevent tape from fraying when carried.

Richard Watson Speaks to CES on Design

Richard was asked to lead a discussion at the 15th Annual Consumer Electronics CEO Summit in Stresa, Italy.The conversation focused on how design transcends borders and entices people to buy. Design impacts brand, functionality, consumer appeal and it also affects the bottom line. Fellow panelists from Google, BMW, Philips Healthcare and Legrand discussed why design matters to an audience of CEO’s.

Richard Watson Kicks Off Creative Mornings

Richard Watson was asked to speak at the launch event of Creative Mornings in Boston. He spoke to a sold-out audience about his roots in Wensleydale, England and the turn of events that inspired him to first, become an industrial designer and ultimately co-found Essential. Some of Richard’s advice to the audience was to follow their intuition, take risks and grow business relationships, patiently.

Shure & Essential Win Spark Award

The Shure SE535 Sound Isolating Earphones won an International Design Award for Spark. Essential and Shure developed a 4-product earphone platform that would be considered the best sounding and most durable universal fit in-ear monitors on the market.

Scott Stropkay Teaches Design Thinking

Scott Stropkay taught design thinking to high school freshmen at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. Using collaborative, hands-on, design-centered methods, Scott was able to introduce various design concepts, as the students embark on their own, year-long design projects. The class was part of Design Day 2011, which is meant to introduce gifted and creative students to systems and design thinking skills, as well as announce the winners of the 2011 Design Learning Challenge.

Shure & Essential Win Finalist IDEA Awards

Shure SE535 Earphones and Beta 181 Instrument Microphone with the A75M Universal Mount each won an International Design Excellence Finalist Award. Essential developed the Beta 181 for discreet placement in live and studio environments. The paired A75M universal microphone mount is developed to be secure in any configuration of drums. Essential and Shure developed a 4-product earphone platform that is the best sounding on the market.

Newell Rubbermaid & Essential Win IDEA Award

The Paper Mate Liquid Paper DryLine Ultra won an International Design Excellence Finalist Award. The DryLine Ultra is a correction tape dispenser that was designed with specific focus on user needs. The refillable dispenser is comfortable to hold for both right and left handed users, and a tip cover prevents the tape from fraying when the dispenser is carried.

Scott Stropkay on “A New Culture of Learning”

Scott Stropkay led a panel discussion with John Seely Brown and Douglas Thomas, co-authors of “A New Culture of Learning” at the Commonwealth Club of California. They explored areas from gaming, mentorship, increasing connection and design thinking converge in a world of constant change.

Richard Watson & Gary Shapiro

Richard Watson and Gary Shapiro discussed the future of innovation in relation to consumer electronics and a changing business and political environment at The Commonwealth Club of California. A high point of the evening was their dialogue on the role of design and user experience in consumer electronics innovation and shared insights from Richard’s experience with leading clients in this industry.

Dave Siedzik Judges for Microsoft

This year’s Microsoft Imagine Cup competition featured more than 358,000 students from 183 countries. Dave Siedzik had the chance to judge the second round of the Digital Media Competition, which asks students to create a multimedia project that creates awareness for global issues such as prenatal care, homelessness, recycling, and AIDS.

Richard Watson’s Fast Co Post: Sustainability

Designing for sustainability requires a passion and commitment to think differently. While many companies have adopted “green” practices, those who have committed entirely have reaped the benefits in many ways. In his recent post on Fast Co. Design, Richard Watson suggests that by doing more good, rather than less bad, businesses, design and innovation will flourish in the future.

Essential on Chronicle’s “What’s New”

The Oster 6-Speed Blender designed by Essential was highlighted in an episode of WCVB-TV Channel 5’s nightly newsmagazine, “Chronicle.” Chronicle showcased Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s new store, MassArt Made. MassArt Made is a store featuring work by alumni, students, faculty and staff. Mark Matthews a Senior Designer at Essential and alumni of MassArt collaborated with the team at Essential to design the blender and was highlighted in the program.

Richard Watson Speaking at IDSA NED

The Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) held their Northeast District Conference and theme of this year’s conference was “What Do You Design4?” . Over the two days of events, Richard participated and moderated in a variety of topics ranging from design for business growth to design for social good.

Scott Stropkay on Design & Medical Devices

The University of Minnesota’s Medical Devices Center presented the Annual Design of Medical Devices Conference. Scott Stropkay spoke at the conference and his presentation focused on how to think about, design for and communicate what matters in medical device innovation. He presented projects for medical device companies; focusing on the innovation process and methods before the invention.

Jarden & Essential Win Excellence in Design

Jarden Oster Blender and Essential have won a Bronze Award for the annual Excellence in Design awards program. Essential developed three unique new products for this competitive segment each elevating the Oster brand with designs that delivered a precise sophisticated language that commands attention on both the counter top and the retail shelf

Richard Watson’s Fast Co: Brand Strategy

The last few decades have seen many brands fade away, only to have a number of them make a comeback. Many people used to believe that brands follow a predictable life cycle, growing, maturing, declining, and dying. Some brands fade as a result of shifting consumer needs, technological redundancy, competition, the economy, or just simply poor judgment from executives. More recently a number of brands have had a resurgence and are being given a new life in a new opportunity space.

Scott Stropkay on Innovation in Healthcare

Scott Stropkay was asked to speak at the HAAS School of Business Health Care Conference in March. He presented processes and results of Essential’s access-design projects for medical device and interactive service-delivery companies; bridging gaps between the research and the delivery of innovative healthcare ideas.

Essential Hosts a Workshop for DMI and KIDP

Essential was asked to participate in one of the first efforts born out of a collaboration between DMI and KIDP which was held in February of 2011. Essential hosted and led a workshop for a group of designers visiting from Korea as part of a week long DMI conference held in Boston.

Richard Watson’s Fast Co: Design is Local

Richard Watson recently visited an exhibit hosted by the Design Museum Boston and it got him thinking about the efficacy of grassroots efforts to elevate the status of the design profession in the U.S. His post on Fast Co. Design describes the opportunities he sees to effectively communicate the true strategic value of design and business on a national scale.

Jarden & Essential Win Good Design Award

Essential and Jarden Corporation won a Good Design Award in the Household Products category for the Oster 6-Speed Blender. Essential developed three unique products for this competitive segment each elevating the Oster brand with designs that delivered a precise sophisticated language that commands attention on both the counter top and the retail shelf.

Philips & Essential Win Good Design Award

Essential and Philips Healthcare won a Good Design Award in the medical category for their new System One. System One is a CPAP system designed to help people with sleep apnea obtain necessary deep sleep without interruption. It’s an innovative and intelligent solution; knowing when, why, and how sleep therapy changes should occur – and making appropriate therapy adjustments to improve sleep quality all night long.

IDSA Holiday Wrap Party at Essential

Essential hosted the Annual IDSA Holiday Wrap Party this year. It’s a festive time to get together with friends for a great cause. We ate, drank and had some fun creating our own unique wrapping paper! Over 80 present’s were donated and wrapped to benefit the children at Boston Medical Center Pediatric Ward.

Scott Stropkay Juries the 2010 Spark Awards

Each year Spark hosts a varied group of very talented judges and Scott Stropkay was honored to judge this year’s competition. The jurists come from across the spectrum of design disciplines, media, educators and experts. Spark strives to stand for making, using and showing designs that make a difference– a positive difference.

Richard Watson’s Fast Co: 24-Hours of Design

In Fast Company’s design blog, Richard Watson covers the first 24-Hour Inclusive Design Challenge to take place on U.S. soil as part of the Symposium for Sustainable Design at Build Boston. Richard addresses the history and context of the inclusive design challenge. He also summarizes the individual work and designs created by the five participating teams.

Scott Stropkay Speaks at A Better World by Design

Scott Stropkay spoke about the design of better healthcare systems at A Better World By Design 2010 Conference. The panel discussed ways human-centered design benefits healthcare delivery; ways to increase engagement and enhance outcomes; designing within existing delivery processes versus inventing new ones; being available at learning moments, designing for end users and providers, and extending the circle of care to social networks.

AARP & Essential Win Gold IDEA Award

Essential won a Gold International Design Excellence Award in the Design Strategy category for LifeTuner.org. LifeTuner is a new website dedicated to helping young adults take control of their financial futures. AARP developed this strategy in collaboration with Essential and Peer Insight.

Bill Hartman Speaks at Bank of America

Hosted by Bank of America, Bill Hartman presented his research and insights at the Mobile Monday event which highlighted what is happening with the intersection of the Finance and Mobile service worlds.

Altec Lansing & Essential Win Excellence In Design Silver

Essential won a Silver Award in the Electronics category for the annual Excellence in Design (EID) for the Orbit MP3 speaker system.The Orbit-MP3 speaker is a pocket-sized speaker that extends the audio experience of iPods, iPhones and other MP3 players and music phones. The overall design language of the Orbit-MP3 is a reflection of the core functionality of the speaker.

Altec Lansing & Essential Win Excellence in Design Bronze

Appliance Design magazine announced that Essential won a Bronze Award in the Electronics category for the annual Excellence in Design (EID) for the Mix Digital Boombox . The MIX is a next generation Digital Boombox for the way music enthusiasts play and share their music in a social context. It responds to a key persona identified in the research — the “defacto DJ” who genuinely likes to get the party started.

Bill Hartman Teaches User Experience

Bill led a Boot Camp at Bentley University’s Design and Usability Center that explores the propagation of user requirements into design solutions. Students investigated the design space through multiple perspectives to identify opportunities for innovation. The class examined design stages and techniques through real-world examples and hands-on prototype development.

Altec Lansing & Essential Win CES Innovations Award

The Mix Digital Boombox created for Altec Lansing, won a CES Innovations Award at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in the Audio Accessories Category. The MIX Boombox is the way music enthusiasts play and share their music in a social context. It responds to a key persona identified in the research — the “defacto DJ’ who genuinely likes to get the party started.

Shure & Essential Win CES Innovations Award

CES announced the Shure PG27USB Side Address Condenser Microphone won a CES Innovations Award at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in the High Performance Audio Category Now aspiring musicians, YouTube videographers and many web-content producers can record with fantastic sound quality, quickly and easily.

Lexicon & Essential Win Good Design Award

The I-ONIX Desktop Recording Series is designed to sit in the perfect desktop location, bridging the gap between your keyboard and monitor. This unique location is an ideal ergonomic solution when using a digital audio workstation. The three product platform won a Good Design Award and is designed around a consistent product language that enhances the technological precision of the line.

Altec Lansing & Essential Win Good Design Award

Essential and Altec Lansing co-developed five products which have been awarded the Good Design Award. The family of products have been launched as a part of an integrated design language initiative in a first step in a complete re-launch of the Altec Lansing product portfolio designed to dock in the home and in mobile contexts.

Eye on America

Essential was featured in an episode of Eye on America, the CBS news program hosted by noted broadcaster Greg Gumbel.

In a segment called, “Innovation and the Business of Design,” Eye on America showcased Essential’s research, design and engineering process, and also focused on our client relationships and our “integrated teamwork” approach to problem solving.

BusinessWeek’s 50 Coolest Products of 21st Century

The E4c earphones grew out of the realization that Shure’s unique sound isolation technology used by the professional audio industry was a perfect crossover for the rapidly expanding portable media devices market. The design won an IDEA Silver and it was recently named BusinessWeek’s 50 Coolest Products of the 21st Century. Check out the 50 consumer products that won IDEA awards over the past 10 years.

Babson MBA Course and Essential

Scott Stropkay and Richard Watson sponsored two teams of graduate MBA students at Babson College. The course; Product Design and Development is led by Sebastian Fixson, PH.D. Assistant Professor of Technology and Operations Management. Scott and Richard led graduate students through the process of product development from market and user analysis to idea generation and concept development, to concept selection and refinement, to product design and prototyping.

Bill Hartman Returns to Bentley

Bill led a course at Bentley University that explores the propagation of user requirements into design solutions. Students investigated the design space through multiple perspectives to identify opportunities for innovation. The class examined design stages and techniques through real-world examples and hands-on prototype development.

Students from STEP Partner with Essential

Through STEP, Essential invites qualified students to book short, informational visits to our work environments, offering an effective means for the teams at Essential to connect with high school students.

Essential’s Composter Wins Spark! Award

Essential won an International Spark! Award for the Reurn Composter design concept. Return is a simple, elegant waste processor that makes the environmentally responsible act of composting food waste convenient and rewarding at an individual level, wholly inside the home. It offers a convenient way to manage food scraps and organic waste without burdening the public waste infrastructure. Urban dwellers can now compost without a backyard.

Quest for Innovation

Essential joined the Quest for Innovation which brought together leaders of the New England innovation economy to celebrate a heritage of entrepreneurship and revolutionary advances in Boston. Participating teams competed in a high-tech, city-wide scavenger hunt that took place through downtown Boston with Essential being one of the locations of the game.

Fishman & Essential Win RedDot Award

Essential and Fishman won a reddot product design award in the musical instruments category. With the help of Essential, Fishman kicked off a design-driven initiative resulting in the creation of an entirely new product line which delivers a highly distinct family of products with a sophisticated, refined aesthetic and attention to detail that is conducive to acoustic musician’s expectations.

Business Week & IDEA Award in Ecodesign

Essential won an International Design Excellence Finalist Award in the Ecodesign category for the Return Home Appliance Composter design concept. Diverting waste from the trashcan and returning it to your backyard as nutrient-rich compost reduces the burden on landfills and sewage treatment plants. Return is a self-contained system that works without the traditional compost pile, making it feasible for urban dwellers.

Bill Hartman speaks to the World Congress

Bill presented a case study of Essential’s work on WellDoc’s Diabetes Manager along with WellDoc President Anand Iyer. Bill and Anand offered points of view and experiences as part of the panel discussion titled, “Designing & Driving Patient Engagement & Empowerment for Personalized Health, Wellness and Care Management.”

Scott Stropkay speaks to Medical Development Group

FDA and EMEA guidances specify that Design Control processes should incorporate risk-based assessment and metrics early and throughout the product development life cycle.

MDG asked Scott Stropkay to discuss the use of design thinking processes to manage development risks in new product innovation opportunities thereby enabling the introduction of successful medical devices

John Devlin on Manufacturing in Asia

John Devlin, Director of Engineering at Essential, presented his thoughts to the Southern New England Entrepreneurs Forum, SNEEF.

John addressed the need to understand the process of product developers who have been trained for years to design and engineer products to optimize for US manufacturing capabilities and philosophies. As more companies transfer production to China, and increasingly outsource engineering development to Asian suppliers, US companies must adapt their product development methods to be successful. Understanding what changes are necessary is critical to this success.

Richard Watson Judges Zink’s Zero Boundaries

ZINK Imaging sponsored the first annual Zero Boundaries design competition to challenge designers to imagine new and innovative solutions that enable and enhance printing with the ZINK Technology.

Entrants were asked to design for two categories: the digital and mobile world of today’s youth and more forward-looking solutions for the designers’ target of choice.

The design competition was evaluated by a cross-functional panel of judges comprised of professionals and influential personalities from industrial design, to business innovation and cultural trends.

Bill Hartman speaks on Healthcare & Social Media

MassTLC’s healthcare and social media cluster collaborated on an event called “Don’t Do It Alone – How to Leverage Social Media to Power Behavior Change.” Over 80 people gathered to hear the experts discuss opportunities and issues surrounding patient and physician communities to support health decisions.

Bill Harman, Director of Research at Essential, addressed the need to understand the attitudes and behaviors of the target audiences before designing the community. Those “newly diagnosed” for example, have a unique and different set of needs than those who are in control of managing their condition but check in when there is a problem.

Dell and Essential win iF Product Design Award

The Dell PowerEdge R610 and R710 Rack Servers won a iF product design award within the computers category.

The servers are the first to represent a new comprehensive design language for Dell Enterprise products. This product family will deliver an improved user experience and a meticulous level of consistency in terms of key component placement, both internally and externally.

Dell’s design group partners with Essential to uncover and develop new ideas for design innovation. Our close partnership enhances strategic insight, provides inspiration for the creative process and drives key design strategy and design language initiatives across some of Dell’s most critical product categories

The User Experience Boot Camp takes an innovative approach to education, comprising hands-on workshops, detailed presentations by leading authorities, and an expert panel from the usability testing community.

Scott Stropkay speaks at the Housewares Show

Innovation and differentiation contribute to successful new products in the housewares industry.

In this presentation, Scott Stropkay will illustrate how marketing, technology and business opportunities can be combined to build compelling new product innovations.

Join us for this event at the International Home + Housewares show on March 24, 2009.

Gabor Zanoni Wins Honorable Mention for TEA-OFF!

In 2009, World Kitchen held its first design competition, TEA-OFF!. More than 240 entries attracted an impressive level of quality from around the globe.

The jury considered how each met the criteria of excellence established for the TEA-OFF! competition. Gabor’s design was among a select few that inspired World Kitchen to establish this level of recognition.

With three outstanding Award Winners and 25 Honorable Mentions, World Kitchen celebrated design innovation at the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, Illinois.

Fishman & Essential Win iF Product Design Award

Fishman Transducers is a standard among serious players and favored by many of the world’s most prominent musicians, including Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews, John Mayer and James Taylor.

Fishman recognized the need to develop a distinct product design language to differentiate their proprietary acoustic imaging pedals from electric guitar effects pedals within a market saturated with imitative products.

With the help of Essential, Fishman kicked off a design-driven initiative resulting in the creation of an entirely new product line which delivers a highly distinct family of products with a sophisticated, refined aesthetic and attention to detail that is conducive to acoustic musician’s expectations.

Altec Lansing & Essential Win CES Innovations Award

Altec Lansing asked Essential to envision new opportunities for growth and to find new categories to compete in.

Essential traveled around the globe to research the behavioral themes regarding people’s relationship with music, devices and spaces to better understand the role that music plays in people lives. One of the first innovative products was the ultra-portable and ultra-functional Orbit-MP3.

The Orbit-MP3 speaker is a pocket-sized speaker that works with and extends the audio experience of iPods, iPhones and other MP3 players and music phones. The overall design language of the Orbit-MP3 is a reflection of the core functionality of the speaker.

Altec Lansing & Essential Win CES Innovations Award

Altec Lansing offers a broad range of audio products, yet margin pressure, increased competition and new retail challenges required the company to reevaluate the brand’s role in consumer’s lives.

The inMotion MAX is an ultra-portable, miniature single-driver speaker with surprisingly rich sound for iPhone, iPod, laptop and all other digital music play.

Shure & Essential Win CES Innovations Award

The Shure X2u XLR-to-USB Signal Adapter lets you use your most trusted microphones for all your digital recordings

Any Mic. Any Time. Anywhere.

Slim, portable and simple to connect, the X2u adapter makes it easy to record whenever you want, anywhere you take your computer, from the home studio, to the garage, to the road.

Senior consultant leading Essential’s research efforts in product and service discovery and definition. Maps strategy opportunities and drives development agendas. Expert in the translation of user and channel inputs into design requirements for hardware, software, web interaction, device interaction, and service development projects.

Prior to Essential: Fitch, Scient, and independent consulting

Education: M.Des., Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology; B.A., Davidson College

Education: M.Arch., Harvard Graduate School of Design; A.B., Harvard University

Edbert Wang

Designer, Digital Experiences

A visual problem solver, Edbert brings his passion for color systems, iconography and typography to develop thoughtful and dynamic interfaces. Agile in a variety of tools and outputs, he synthesizes brand strategy and user needs to create compelling digital experiences.

Prior to Essential: VisualOps, Korn Design

Education: B.F.A., Cooper Union

Evan Hutker

Designer

Passionate and analytical designer focused on aligning the goals of users and businesses to create thoughtful solutions for clients. Skilled in visualizing the synthesis of conceptual and technical criteria into meaningful products and services.

Prior to Essential: Mechtronics, Tool., The First Years

Education: B.I.D., Syracuse University

Felicia Chancy

Studio Administrator

Detail oriented with a background in communications, Felicia brings her knowledge and experience of overseeing and implementing internal operations while fostering a positive work environment. Able to seamlessly transition through departments, Felicia maintains key internal processes and keeps systems running smoothly.

Senior consultant leading Essential’s business development by focusing on building strategies that provide product and service solutions for clients. Gregg is expert in leading innovation teams and holds more than 50 patents. He is passionate about helping clients shape and define the best path to success.

A multifaceted product design engineer who is passionate about creating compelling user experiences and is well-versed in the development of mechanical, electrical, and digital systems. Jeff combines creative thinking and critical analysis to translate complex problems into tangible solutions in the healthcare and consumer sectors.

End-user focused designer of elegant product and packaging solutions. Generator and translator of consumer insights with experience creating innovations that have direct influence on the
quality of the user’s product experience.

Prior to Essential: Smart Design, Carroll Design, Mattel

Education: B.A., Industrial Design, Cleveland Institute of Art

Katherine Belk

Marketing Associate

With a background in quantitative and qualitative analysis, Katherine brings analytical thinking and creativity to the marketing team. She has experience managing multi-channel communication initiatives in advertising for clients in the healthcare and finance sectors.

A creative thinker for a broad range of digital user experiences, Margaret brings focus to the process of translating business and technical requirements into successful user experiences. Engaging our clients collaboratively, she applies strategic thinking to the design development process so that solutions are usable, flexible, and scalable.

Prior to Essential: Fitch, Six Red Marbles, Sapient

Education: M.I.D., Master of Industrial Design, NC State School of Design

Mark Matthews

Senior Designer

Senior Designer and master craftsman in
the development of computer-aided-design
databases and other digital deliverables
for clients. Recognized leader and consultant
to various CAD software developers.

Prior to Essential: Fitch

Education: B.A., Industrial Design, Massachusetts College of Art

Naz Mirzaie

Design Researcher

A human-centered researcher and creative problem solver with a background in design for sustainability, service design and industrial design. Naz brings experience in systems thinking, experience mapping, and behavior change strategies. She’s committed to translating research findings into insights and meaningful user experiences.

Strategist and human factors specialist merging experience in marketing and user research to create value for clients. Paul’s cross-functional experience has helped him excel at crafting intuitive and useful products. Passionately curious, Paul strives to find the root needs and desires of those who will ultimately use the product.

Leading advisor to companies on product
innovation and authority in the field of design strategy. Speaker on the subject of the
business power of design strategy, design
vision and trends analysis. Active and extremely accomplished designer of successful, award winning products.

Anthropologist specializing in the translation of user perspectives and behaviors into design implications. Sarah has led research initiatives for interaction design, web design, and architecture in the education, healthcare and finance sectors. Accomplished at introducing research and interdisciplinary processes into client programs
with a passion for organizational strategy.

Leading advisor to companies on cross-functional innovation; integrating management, marketing, r&d, engineering, and manufacturing goals. Speaker on the subject of innovation process. Design strategist to companies seeking new opportunity definition in product, interaction and service development.

Prior to Essential: IDEO, Gillette

Education: B.F.A., Industrial Design, Cleveland Institute of Art

Sonya Mead

Director of Digital Experiences

Versed in applying a user-centric design vision to any experience, Sonya brings expertise in visual communication and interaction design for projects integrating user experience, design research and brand strategy. She has worked with consumer brands, media developers, financial, legal and medical clients developing web sites to product interfaces.

Designer of products and experiences that integrate and balance multidimensional cultural influences. Interested in the symbolism of form, the potential of haptic interfaces, and the elegance in simple, meaningful interactions.

Prior to Essential: Wilddesign, Pilotfish, Moto Design

Education: B.A., Industrial Design, Seoul National University of Science and Technology;
B.A., Landscape Architecture, College of Natural Resources, Yeoung Nam University

Tammy Newman

Business Manager

Artful manager of Essential’s business relationships with clients. Guides Essential in effective and efficient business practice management to focus the team’s attention on clients’ priorities. Also manages human resources and staff development activities.

Senior consultant leading Essential’s research efforts in product and service discovery and definition. Maps strategy opportunities and drives development agendas. Expert in the translation of user and channel inputs into design requirements for hardware, software, web interaction, device interaction, and service development projects.

Prior to Essential:Fitch, Scient, and independent consulting

Associations:DMI

Education:M.Des., Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology
B.A. Davidson College

Careers

Essential has developed an award-winning portfolio of products and services with clients from consumer, professional, and medical domains ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500s.

Work With Us

We’re always on the lookout for the best and brightest to join our team. Email a cover letter and resume along with a link to or a pdf of your portfolio, to careers@essential-design.com